Hugh Jackman doesn’t hold grudge against absentee mom

Actor Hugh Jackman no longer holds a grudge against his mother for abandoning him when he was eight, after learning she was struggling with a severe bout of post-partum depression.

“The X-Men” star’s mom Grace Watson left her husband and four kids behind in Australia and fled to the U.K. when Jackman was a young boy.

The actor struggled to come to terms with her departure, and confesses he went through a dark time in the subsequent years.

He tells Australian publication Women’s Weekly, “One of the main things I remember is that horrible feeling that people were talking about you and looking at you because it was odd for the mother to leave.”

But Jackman, now 44, insists he has since forgiven and made peace with his mom upon realizing she was battling ill health.

He adds, “The thing I never felt – and I know this might sound strange – I never felt that my mom didn’t love me. I’ve spoken about it at length with her since and I know she was struggling.

“She was in hospital after I was born suffering from post-natal depression. There wasn’t a support network for her here.”

The father of two admits it feels good to put the past behind him: “There comes a certain point in life when you have to stop blaming other people for how you feel or the misfortunes in your life. You can’t go through life obsessing about what might have been.”